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Assamite Antitribu
Assamite Antitribu---- Hush and be still, O my enemy. It is nothing less than Fate which drives my hand, and you suffer no dishonor in falling to a superior foe. Revenge is the ending of wrath, the beginning of peace. Only in vengeance can peace exist. They fear us, and rightly. We shall be their doom, and they know it. You too shall be feared, if you are found worthy. Guard these pages well, for they are truth and will show you the way. Resolve your heart; if you fail, you shall die with honour. You have already seen too much to turn back. Come.---- Feared by all yet courted by many, refusing outside allegiances yet willing to hunt Kindred for a payment of blood, the Assamites are among the most reclusive clans. Once hunted, these vampire assassins are now sought out by the Kindred to dispose of their enemies. Fearful tales are told of their skill in hunting the most dangerous prey, their bravery in combat, and their fierce loyalty to their clan. Yet the tellers of these tales do not guess at the truth: the millennia of warfare, the roots of the Jyhad, and the clan mysteries which no outsider has ever seen. The Crusaders brought back many tales from the Holy Land, some of which concerned a band of fanatical killers. The word Europeans coined for these silent murderers was assassin. The Cainites, however, already knew of a similar, but far more dangerous threat from Araby – the diabolists of Clan Assamite. The Vampires of the West had encountered the Assamites long before the Crusaders. Some say that the conquerors who set out for the East – Alexander, for example – were pawns of the Cainites who feared the Assamites. Rumors aside, the Assamites are dreaded for good reason – they seek to better themselves through the practice of diablerie. According to Assamite teachings, one must lower his generation in order to become closer to Caine, and therefore to Heaven. The truest method is, of course, diablerie. Murder was simply part and parcel of the way, and they became skilled of necessity. They even began a practice of accepting assassination contracts, payable by blood, from other Cainites. Although honor-bound to defend their clanmates, the Assamites had no compunctions about slaying any foreign Vampires. The Assamite Antitribu are almost identical to their non-Sabbat counterparts, except that they accept all races into their clan, granting membership to anyone with a warrior's heart. Also, most importantly, they were never subjected to the Curse of the Tremere. The Assamites of the Sabbat are free to drink the blood of all Vampires. Because of this, they may be considered a separate bloodline from all other Assamites. The Assamites of the Sabbat, acting on the request of the Sabbat leader Vestgeir, severed all direct association to the Assamite clan. The Sabbat Assamites have since that time made peace with their former clan. Assamite Antitribu will not battle non-Sabbat Assamites, and Assamites have never warred against the Sabbat Assamites. This unspoken understanding is at least recognized by Sabbat leaders. The Assamite Antitribu are the primary assassins of the Sabbat. However, they do not ask for blood from the leaders of the sect. Instead, they ritually slay the eldest of their own clan every 100 years through a special diablerie ceremony. This elder has some of the blood of the Lasombra founder, a third generation vampire, running through his veins. The elder exists for a century as the closest Assamite Antitribu to Caine himself, ruling under the title Hulul. At the end of the 100-year reign, the next in line drinks the precious vitae from the previous ruler, and so it passes it through history. Nickname: Angels of Caine Appearance: Assamites originally came from cultures of the East – Arabs, Moors and the like. Consequently, most have the distinguishing characteristics of those races: swarthy skin, aquiline features and dark hair and eyes. Unlike other Cainites, they do not grow paler in death. Instead, their skin becomes darker over the years; very elder Assamites are nearly ebony-black. Though many of the younger generations of Assamite Antitribu are not of Middle Eastern heritage, they still develop dark skin as time passes, just like all other Assamites. Background: The clan tends to watch potential neonates before allowing an Assamite to sire progeny. Although necessity sometimes demands that a new childe be sired quickly, the Assamites prefer making time for an apprenticeship. The Assamite Antitribu are strict in choosing recruits. If a newly created Assamite Antitribu survives her first experience in combat, she becomes a mustajib, or "deserving one." Mortals never serve the Assamites before being chosen to become one. Only after becoming Vampires do they get the chance for acceptance. For a period of seven years, the Vampire must serve the Assamite Antitribu who created her. If the mustajib fails in any of her tasks, she is destroyed. If she succeeds, she becomes a fadais, or "one who sacrifices herself," for seven more years as she serves her creator. During this time she becomes recognized as a member of the clan and she studies the Assamite art of assassination. Clan Disciplines: Celerity, Obfuscate, Quietus Category:Vampire Category:Clans